The Internet, which is a human centered connectivity network where humans generate and consume information, is now evolving to the Internet of Things (IoT) where distributed entities, such as things, exchange and process information without human intervention. The Internet of Everything (IoE), which is a combination of the IoT technology and the Big Data processing technology through connection with a cloud server, has emerged. As technology elements, such as “sensing technology”, “wired/wireless communication and network infrastructure”, “service interface technology”, and “Security technology” have been demanded for IoT implementation, a sensor network, a Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communication, Machine Type Communication (MTC), and so forth have been recently researched.
Such an IoT environment may provide intelligent Internet technology services that create a new value to human life by collecting and analyzing data generated among connected things. IoT may be applied to a variety of fields including smart home, smart building, smart city, smart car or connected cars, smart grid, health care, smart appliances and advanced medical services through convergence and combination between existing Information Technology (IT) and various industrial applications.
A home network is a network of devices at a home. The devices part of a network may include, but is not limited to, lights, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC), appliances (e.g., television sets, washing machines, microwaves, etc.), security locks of gates and doors, and other systems. Connected devices in a home network may be able to talk to each other directly or through a home gateway.
In existing home networking solutions, users are provided with one or more control applications which may run on hand-held devices like a smart phone or tablet, on in home display (IHD) devices, and on traditional computers like a personal computer (PC). A control application helps in identifying a device by performing discovery within a home network, and then by listing the discovered devices. User then can select one of the devices from the list to obtain control of the device. Though the appliances might be near the user or in front of user or in sight of the user, the user must perform all the operations relating to discovery and selection of a device through a control application manually (typically, by using a smart phone). In an example scenario, consider a home equipped with 20-30 lights in a living room, 3-4 wall mounted fans, 7-8 Internet protocol (IP) cameras in a corridor, etc. In the example scenario, it is very difficult for a user to identify and select an appropriate appliance from the list of discovered appliances presented by the application. The difficulty in selecting an appropriate device is partly due to the cumbersome process of going through a list. Further, the difficulty is accentuated by the fact that multiple devices (for example, lights of the same model) can have similar identifying information. More specifically, a listing of devices generally includes display of a device's name or alias or other device specific information like a media access control (MAC) address, an IP address, etc. A device's name and other specific information is part of the device's own information, which is maintained by each device. So the device may have its name or alias as defined by device manufacturer, which is commonly a generic name. For this reason the list of devices of a same family generally will show will show same names after discovery, e.g., lights, switches, IP cameras with same models, etc.
Therefore, there is a need to simplify the process of discovering and selecting devices for control in a home network.
The above information is presented as background information only to assist with an understanding of the present disclosure. No determination has been made, and no assertion is made, as to whether any of the above might be applicable as prior art with regard to the present disclosure.